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The latest accolade for Dodger lefty Clayton Kershaw: FanGraphs Player of the Year. Kershaw edged Angels outfielder Mike Trout for the honor.
— Jon Weisman
Tag: Clayton Kershaw (Page 20 of 36)
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By Jon Weisman
The GIBBY Awards aren’t named after Kirk Gibson specifically, though the awkwardness of the full name — Greatness in Baseball Yearly — suggests a determined attempt to arrive at that acronym. In any case, the Dodgers are nominated for several in 2014, and you can vote online through November 7. (Winners will be announced December 6.)
Clayton Kershaw and Yasiel Puig were each nominated in three categories. Here is your full list of Dodger nominees:
- MLB MVP: Kershaw
- Starting pitcher: Kershaw
- Closer: Kenley Jansen
- Bounceback player: Matt Kemp
- Manager: Don Mattingly
- Play: Puig’s double play, July 5 at Colorado
- Outfield throw: Puig, September 22 vs. San Francisco
- Moment: Vin Scully announces his return for 2015, July 29
- Hitting performance: Dee Gordon 5 for 6 with three steals, May 3 at Miami
- Hitting performance: Puig, 4 for 4 with three triples, July 25 at San Francisco
- Pitching performance: Josh Beckett no-hitter, May 25 at Philadelphia
- Pitching performance: Kershaw no-hitter, June 18 vs. Colorado
- Oddity: Dodgers’ defensive wall, August 29 at San Diego
- Walkoff: Hanley Ramirez’s 12th-inning homer, August 2 vs. Chicago
- Cut4 topic: Mo’ne Davis at Dodger Stadium
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By Jon Weisman
Somewhere right now, someone is driving a car and texting about the horrors of ebola.
But let me get back to that …
Congratulations to the #Dodgers FOUR #RawlingsGoldGlove Award finalists! Most from any team in the National League! pic.twitter.com/UALeJAVvHK
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 23, 2014
By Jon Weisman
This should be the year of the Uribear.
Adrian Gonzalez, Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw, Juan Uribe and Zack were named finalists for the Rawlings Gold Glove Awards, with winners to be announced November 4.
Each position has three finalists. Greinke and Kershaw are up against Adam Wainwright of St. Louis for the NL pitcher Gold Glove. Gonzalez is against Adam LaRoche of Washington and Justin Morneau of Colorado, while Uribe has competition from Nolan Arenado of the Rockies and Pablo Sandoval of San Francisco.
Going strictly by advanced stats, Uribe would be the Dodgers’ top candidate. Despite a couple of injury issues this year, Uribe dominated NL third basemen statistically. (Click chart to enlarge.)
The players voted & @Dodgers P @ClaytonKersh22 wins @SN_Baseball Player of the Year! http://t.co/N8OhYjornl pic.twitter.com/1xZ28TDkCW
— Sporting News (@sportingnews) October 23, 2014
Two days after Baseball America named him 2014 Player of the Year, Clayton Kershaw has received the same honor from the Sporting News.
In a close vote from more then 220 MLB players, Kershaw edged out the Angels’ Mike Trout, 76 to 73.
— Jon Weisman
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By Jon Weisman
Above, a highlight package of the Dodgers’ 2014 season. Below, some odds and ends for the first offseason Thursday …
For more photos from Monday, visit LA Photog Blog.
Dodgers at Cardinals, 2:07 p.m.
Dodgers
Dee Gordon, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, RF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Andre Ethier, CF
Juan Uribe, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Clayton Kershaw, P
–
Cardinals
Matt Carpenter, 3B
Randal Grichuk, RF
Matt Holliday, LF
Jhonny Peralta, SS
Matt Adams, 1B
Yadier Molina, C
Jon Jay, CF
Kolten Wong, 2B
Shelby Miller, P
Dodgers
Dee Gordon, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, RF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Andre Ethier, CF
Juan Uribe, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Clayton Kershaw, P
–
Cardinals
Matt Carpenter, 3B
Randal Grichuk, RF
Matt Holliday, LF
Jhonny Peralta, SS
Matt Adams, 1B
Yadier Molina, C
Jon Jay, CF
Kolten Wong, 2B
Shelby Miller, P
By Jon Weisman
Yasiel Puig, who has a .774 OPS in the National League Division Series but has struck out in eight of his past nine at-bats, has been replaced in the Dodger starting lineup by Andre Ethier.
Ethier will bat sixth, while left fielder Carl Crawford moves up to the No. 2 spot behind Dee Gordon.
Since August 29, Ethier has made one start in a game that had meaning for the Dodgers, going 0 for 2 with a walk and a hit-by-pitch September 7 against Arizona. In his final 46 plate appearances of the regular season, Ethier went 12 for 39 with a .413 on-base percentage and .436 slugging percentage, then went 1 for 2 in Game 1 of the NLDS.
* * *
A few pieces related to starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw to pass along.
While A.J. Cassavell breaks down the risks of pitching on three days’ rest at MLB.com, Russell A. Carleton at Baseball Prospectus notes that the Cardinals do not own Clayton Kershaw.
… When we look at Kershaw’s performance against the Cardinals, we see that his BABIP is quite high at .343. I know that during the postseason everyone likes to pretend that games are won and lost based on magical fairy dust, grit, and character. But frankly, a lot of what drives a baseball game is dumb luck. That’s not comfortable for people to hear, but the sooner that you accept that, the sooner we can have a real conversation about baseball. …
Clayton Kershaw has gotten very unlucky over the last four years against the St. Louis Cardinals, and luck is not a character trait. Luck just kinda happens. If you made bets on a series of coin flips and won seven in a row, that would be an unlikely event (though possible). Yes, you still have the money you just won in your pocket, but it’s not because you have a special skill for calling coin flips or because you are a morally righteous person. You caught a run of good luck. Congrats. Don’t expect it to last. …
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Dodgers at Cardinals, 6:37 p.m.
Dodgers
Dee Gordon, 2B
Yasiel Puig, CF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, RF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Carl Crawford, LF
Juan Uribe, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Hyun-Jin Ryu, P
–
Cardinals
Matt Carpenter, 3B
Randal Grichuk, RF
Matt Holliday, LF
Jhonny Peralta, SS
Matt Adams, 1B
Yadier Molina, C
Jon Jay, CF
Kolten Wong, 2B
John Lackey, P
Dodgers
Dee Gordon, 2B
Yasiel Puig, CF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, RF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Carl Crawford, LF
Juan Uribe, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Hyun-Jin Ryu, P
–
Cardinals
Matt Carpenter, 3B
Randal Grichuk, RF
Matt Holliday, LF
Jhonny Peralta, SS
Matt Adams, 1B
Yadier Molina, C
Jon Jay, CF
Kolten Wong, 2B
John Lackey, P
By Jon Weisman
All remaining mystery about Dan Haren’s role in the 2014 National League Division Series has been eliminated. He has been set up as tonight’s long reliever, and Clayton Kershaw has been announced by Don Mattingly as the Game 4 starter.
Nine of Haren’s 11 career relief appearances came 10 seasons ago as a newbie with the Cardinals. The 10th came 2 1/2 years ago in the 14th inning with the Angels, and he pitched a perfect inning. The 11th was in August 2013 with Washington, and he gave up a single while throwing another shutout inning.
In neither of those two recent occasions was he asked to rush into the game. So if Hyun-Jin Ryu got into any trouble early tonight in his first outing in nearly a month, you would no doubt see a short reliever in for damage control, while Haren took his time in the bullpen to get himself ready for the start of an inning.
Haren’s last competitive action came September 27, so he’s on eight days’ rest right now. He had a 2.43 ERA in his final 10 starts of the regular season with 7.6 strikeouts per nine innings and 50 baserunners in 59 1/3 innings. He had seven quality starts out of those 10.
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By Jon Weisman
Over in the far-off reaches of the American League, the Detroit Tigers bullpen has been absolutely battered. In both his playoff games, Detroit manager Brad Ausmus has been ripped for removing a pitcher too soon.
Neither of those occasions came with Clayton Kershaw on the mound. Neither of them came in an inning that began after Clayton Kershaw had retired 16 of his last 17 batters with eight strikeouts, using only 74 pitches over that stretch and 81 in the game to that point.
I’m sympathetic to the argument that by the time nemesis Matt Carpenter came to bat in the seventh inning of Friday’s loss to the Cardinals, 21 pitches later, Kershaw was on thin ice. But I’m having trouble believing that anytime before that, Don Mattingly would have received less criticism for turning the final seven, eight or nine outs of the game to middle relief that has been darkly questioned all year long.
That’s not at all to say the bullpen would have failed, though the walk and home run surrendered by Pedro Baez to his first two batters was not reassuring — and J.P. Howell, who would have faced John Jay with the bases loaded in the seventh if many had had their way, allowed a leadoff single to Jay in the ninth.
It’s simply that between 1) a Kershaw that was allowing singles but also striking batters out, or 2) a fresh Howell or Baez, not only is the choice basically a tossup, but choosing the bullpen is betting against the player that has come through more often than any other pitcher in the game.
Put more bluntly: Imagine the reaction if Clayton Kershaw was in the dugout, having thrown 102 pitches on eight days’ rest, if and when the Dodgers lost their lead.
No one knows better than Kershaw that he didn’t come through. But if you think that he was destined to fail, or if you think he can’t win in the playoffs, or if you don’t think he can come back in his next start from the rare adversity that strikes, I don’t know what pitcher you’ve been watching all this time.
As for the struggles of the 2014 bullpen itself …
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By Jon Weisman
The postgame interview with Clayton Kershaw added awkwardness to injury, as he led a swarming media contingent in search of room to breathe, starting at his locker, moving just outside the clubhouse, then near an unused stairwell in the adjacent hallway.
Downcast, Kershaw was asked if he was in shock after a 6-1, sixth-inning Dodger lead had become a 10-9 defeat. But surprise had nothing to do with the responsibility he felt.
“I’m not in shock,” Kershaw said. “I feel terrible. It’s an awful feeling to let your teammates down.
By Jon Weisman
The sky, like the game, didn’t know what color to be.
An afternoon that had been so bright and so cathartic turned into a night so humbling, so fast.
Retiring 16 batters in a row between solo home runs in the first and sixth innings, Clayton Kershaw was painting poetry. And the Dodger offense, put on edge again by another plunking by a St. Louis pitcher, responded gloriously, reaching base 13 of the 26 times they came to the plate against Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright, struggling from the first inning to his fifth and last, to build a 6-2 lead in Game 1 of the National League Division Series.
A.J. Ellis with hit after hit after hit, including a two-run home run. Matt Kemp with three hits. Yasiel Puig on base four times. Carl Crawford, Hanley Ramirez busting through with two hits apiece.
Then day turned into night, and blue turned into black.
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By Jon Weisman
Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers
“Why doesn’t anybody ask me what it feels like to win?”
Clayton Kershaw hasn’t had to field many questions lately about his negatives. Since the end of May, the only game he has lost was one in which he went nine innings, walked none and struck out 11.
But as predicted, the memories of his National League Championship Series Game 6 defeat at St. Louis have swamped those of the 0.47 postseason ERA he had last year going into that game. And as the quote up top shows, it didn’t take long for him to grow a little impatient with that particular line of interrogation at today’s media session.
The loss stung, and he has studied it, but it is not fuel for his fire. The fire within burns on its own.
“I guess the experience of it more than anything,” is what Kershaw took from the 2013 postseason.
“I had some successes in the postseason last year,” he said. “I had some good starts. I had a bad one to end the season. I kind of use both of those. But as far as motivation, I don’t need any extra motivation. I haven’t won a World Series yet — that’s plenty.”
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
At the halfway point of the 2014 season, we gave you the Dodgers’ top 40 plays of the first 81 games. Without further ado, as part of our drumbeat of excitement heading into the postseason, here are the Dodgers’ top plays of the second half — with a bonus 10 to deliver a nice 50.
Yeah, you’re gonna want to be here a while …
* * *
June 29 vs. St. Louis: Adrian Gonzalez teaches the Cardinals a lesson about the shift.
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By Jon Weisman
With the MLB playoffs comes the national spotlight for the Dodgers. With the national spotlight comes the attempts to tell the story of the Dodgers by those who only have a passing acquaintance to them, to those who only have a passing acquaintance with them.
So for the benefit of baseball’s fans and media galaxy-wide, here are three storylines that are sure to be shared about the 2014 Dodgers — and the reasons why they are largely bogus.
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By Jon Weisman
It’s inevitable that at some point before this week’s playoff rematch against St. Louis begins, Clayton Kershaw will be characterized as a postseason failure who comes up small in big games.
The reasons for this will be 1) one victory in nine postseason appearances, 2) his pedestrian 4.23 career postseason ERA and 3) his disastrous outing against the Cardinals in Game 6 of the 2014 National League Championship Series.
It’s one of the dwindling dividing lines between Kershaw and Sandy Koufax, even though Koufax himself didn’t win his first World Series game until he was almost 28.
So here’s a little quick perspective:
Kershaw’s first five postseason appearances (three in relief) were a mixed bag, but all of those came before his 22nd birthday. In his first postseason start — and first postseason showdown with the Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright — he held St. Louis to two runs over 6 2/3 innings in 2009 NLDS Game 2, the game the Dodgers eventually won, after Matt Holliday’s ninth-inning error, on Mark Loretta’s walkoff single.
Subsequently, the 21-year-old lefty shut out Philadelphia over four innings in Game 1 of the 2009 NLCS before a meltdown in the fifth that led to five runs on three hits, three walks and three wild pitches.
Move forward to 2013: Kershaw is about a month away from winning his second Cy Young Award as he heads into the playoffs.
- In Game 1 of the 2013 NLDS against the Braves, Kershaw allows one run on six baserunners while striking out 12 in seven innings.
- Coming back on three days’ rest in Game 4, Kershaw gives up no earned runs on four baserunners in six innings while striking out six. Two errors by Adrian Gonzalez deprive Kershaw of the lead and the chance at the victory.
- Then in Game 2 of the 2013 NLCS, Kershaw again allows nary an earned run on three baserunners while striking out five.
- Starting 2013 NLCS Game 6, Kershaw shuts out the Cardinals for the first two innings.
To this point, in his first postseason opportunity since entering his prime, Kershaw had thrown 19 innings and allowed one earned run (0.47 ERA) and 13 baserunners while striking out 23. His career postseason ERA, even including the foibles of his youthiest youth, was 2.73.
He had only one win to show for it, thanks to how little offensive or defensive support he was given in those games. But in the three biggest games of his 2013 season, Kershaw stood tall in each one.
Over the next three innings of Game 6, Kershaw allowed seven runs, in the kind of meltdown we have only seen once in 27 starts since (against Arizona in May). Kershaw has been the first to take on all of the blame for this. No past event has loomed larger for the 26-year-old lefty this season, and certainly this week, than the Game 6 catastrophe.
More than ever before, the 2014 playoffs will shape the perception of what caliber of postseason pitcher Kershaw is. It has become customary to expect something close to perfection out of Kershaw, especially since he expects the same from himself. But the absence of perfection does not mean failure.
